Coaxial and triaxial cables are used in a variety of electronic applications in which electromagnetic shielding is desired to provide noise-free transmission of the signal carried by the central conductor of the cable. Triaxial cables, for example, which contain a center conductor to carry an information-bearing signal and two outer conductors to provide shielding, are often used in high voltage applications wherein it is desired to reduce noise levels to a minimum.
Triaxial cables are often terminated by triaxial electrical connectors. Triaxial connectors typically contain a larger number of parts, and assembly of the connector onto a triaxial cable is a relatively difficult and time-consuming procedure. In particular, in known triaxial connectors, substantial care was required during the assembly process to ensure that the various connector components were properly positioned with respect to one another and, once positioned, were maintained in position during assembly onto the cable. The outer conductors of coaxial cables frequently comprise a braid of small conductors that lacks axial rigidity and may stretch or compress under load.
A particular difficulty in assembling known triaxial connectors was to avoid relative axial movement of the connector components, particularly the electrical contacts, during attachment of the connector to the cable. Axial misalignment of one or more of the electrical contacts in the connector frequently prevented the connector from properly mating with its complementary connector.
In many prior assembly techniques, it was also difficult to ensure that the ferrules used to crimp the outer conductors of the cable to the connector were in proper position during crimping to ensure proper electrical and mechanical attachment of the connector to the cable.